




HOG CHOLERA 



^2£T2D 



HOW TO PREVENT IT 



A PRACTICAL MODE OF TREATMENT 
FOR SUCCESSFULLY PREVENT- 
ING CHOLERA. 



PART FIRST-.— Hog Cholera— Its Causes— Its Preventive — Also Cure in 

its First Stages. 

TART SECOND:— Breeding— Best Time to Breed— Treatment ami Care of 

Hogfl from the Sucking Pigup— Diarrhea in Pigs— How to Prevent 

;ind Cure it— Fattening Hogs— Wintering I !<><:-, &c. 



BY W. T/KFJOOKING. 



:e=p,ice $2 t=>^:ti copy. 



MACOMB, ILLINOIS 

JOURNAL STEAM 1'IiINTlNO HOUBK. 

181 

: 



HOG CHOLERA 



^.3ST^> 



HOW TO PREVENT IT. 



A PRACTICAL MODE OF TREATMENT 
FOR SUCCESSFULLY PREVENT- 
ING CHOLERA. 



PART FIRST:— Hog Cholera— Its Causes— Its Preventive— Also Cure iu 

its First Stages. 

PART SECOND:— Breeding— Best Time to Breed— Treatment and Care of 
' Hogs from the Sucking Pig up — Diarrhea in Pigs — How to Prevent 
and Cure it — Fattening Hogs — Wintering Hogs, 6cc. 



BY W. T. BROOKING. 



PBICE $2 IFiEire, OO^-ST. 



MACOMB, ILLINOIS: 

JOURNAL 8TEAM PRINTING HOUSE. 

10 I I . 




(Oa 



JBPFB/OVU€^nOJXi 



The Pamphlet you are going to read is just what it is — im- 
perfect in many places, yet, as a whole, pretty much what I ex- 
pected to make it. I have not' prepared a feast for an epicure- 
an literary taste ; all such need not criticise, but can stand aside 
and let the Farmers and hog raisers to the front to digest its 
pages. 

I have endeavored to make myself understood in giving my 
experience with hogs, which I have been years in obtaining. I 
hope I have succeeded. 

This phamphlet claims to make known to the Farmers and 
hog raisers how to prevent cholera in hogs. If it does this it 
will have accomplished the purpose for which it was written. 

Its mission is to give a practical mode of treatment for pre- 
venting hog cholera. It relies on no medicine, or remedies by 
themselves, but in connection with other rules of treatment 
which is the only practical means of preventing cholera. Any 
man, who practices the teachings of this phamphlet, will never 
loose hogs with cholera. It was, this honest conviction, 
that induced me to write this pamphlet. The pamphlet is di- 
vided into two parts. Part First treats of Hog Cholera, Its 
Causes, Its Preventive, and Cure in its First Stages. Part Sec- 
ond treats on Breeding, Raising Pigs, Fattening, Wintering, 
&c. Diarrhea in Pigs, how to prevent and how to cure it. 

I believe I am offering a good thing to the farmer, something 
worth many times the sum asked for it. All books and pamphlets 
published are criticised much or little, as they deserve. I care 
not for criticism on the composition or style of writing, but I 
ask a favor, that you will not condemn the teachings and prin- 
ciples advocated until you have tested them thoroughly. It 
makes no apologies; it only asks the favor of a fair trial. It 
submits its claims to the fanner and hog raiser on its naked 
merits, and appeals to their j^ood sense to endorse or reject its 
teachings, as they please. May it be the means of preventing 
cholera wherever it goes. W. T. B. 



HOG CHOLERA 



PART I. 



CHAPTER I. 



Hog Cholera is a disease that made its appearance in this 
country about the year 1 851. Hogs were affected with disease 
previous to that time, but not in such a malignant form as to 
have the name Cholera attached to the disease. Whether the 
disease of Cholera really existed prior to that time I am not 
prepared to say, but it was about the time mentioned that I 
first heard of Hog Cholera. 

The disease received its name, no doubt, from the fact that, 
in some cases ol cholera, hogs are affected with purging and 
vomiting ; that is, however, only one of the many symptoms 
of cholera in hogs. I have lost a great number of hogs with 
cholera, and I find they are affected in' many ways. From my 
own observations, and the description of the symptoms from 
others, I consider the following symptoms about correct : 

The first thing usually noticed is, the hogs look badly, seem 
tucked up in the flank, seem stupid, ears droop, have a general 
appearance of not doing well, and have some cough. This is 
what I call the first stage of cholera, viz: the conditions most 
favorable for cholera to take hold in its more dangerous forms. 
Generally the above symptons are first noticed, but not always; 
sometimes a hog will appear perfectly healthy and in three 
hour's time be dead ; but, as a rule, they appear diseased and 
"out of fix" before taken in the worse forms of cholera. Worse 



HOG CHOLERA PREVENTIVE. 

forms are sure to follow — if not prevented by the proper treat- 
ment and remedies — with the following symptons: 

The next thing noticed is the refusal of food, of any kind, 
which continues throughout the entire sickness. Great thirst 
is present and large quantities of water will be swallowed if it 
can be obtained. After a time, the length of which varies mucn, 
the animal begins to show signs of we ikness, reels, staggers, 
and, in attempting to walk, falls down. In some cases there is 
diarrhea, with copious fluid discharges of a dark, bilious and 
very offensive matter. In some cases there is no diarrhea, but 
evacuations are hard. You will sometimes see them vomit, but 
not severe, nor does it continue long. At first you notice but 
very little difference in the color of the hog, but towards the 
last of the sickness, purple spots appear, first on the nose and 
sides of the head; these extend along the sides and belly, and 
between the hind legs and around the ears, after which the an- 
imal soon dies. In the advance stages ulcers are found on dif- 
ferent parts of the body, on inside of the lips and gums and the 
back part of the mouth. The legs, ears and sides of the head 
are sometimes swollen and red, and the eyes are sore and in- 
flamed. Sometimes swellings, like carbuncles, are seen. ■ In 
the majority of cases the pulse is quickened, the breathing hur- 
ried and difficult, and there is considerable cough. The dura- 
tion of the disease, in fatal cases, after the first symptoms are 
noticed, is extremely varible. Some die within two or three 
hours, while others live for many clays. When you see one ap- 
proach the feed, smell of it, take a little in his month, spit it 
out, and walk of in a sulky and apparently offended manner, 
you need not be surprised at finding him dead any morning 
when you go out to feed. These symptoms you frequently see 
in hogs that weigh from two to four hundred pounds. 

I have given some of the symptoms of hog cholera, not be- 
cause I think you do not know them, not at all. for I know that 

1 he farmer and stock raiser have seen more of the symptoms 
and effects of cholera than they cared about seeing. In open- 
ing hogs that have died with cholera, making post mortem, ex- 
aminations, you will find them diseased in different parts. — 
Worms in the stomach and intestines, in some cases, in the 
throat, lou will find the lungs of some inflamed and swollen; 
in some cases the liver is grown fast and shows a diseased and 
discolored condition ; in some the stomach is diseased. 

That they are affected in a great many ways there is no doubt. 
It is this fact that has given rise to so many different theories 
in regard to hog cholera. One man will examine a hog that 
died with cholera and finds the lungs diseased ; he pronounces 



HOG CHOLERA PREVENTIVE. 7 

it a lung disease. Another finds worms, and calls it a worm 
disease. Still another iinds the throat diseased, and calls it a 
throat disease, and so on ; men differ. Hence, the different 
modes of treating and doctoring the disease. 

It is a disease that is not confined to any certain locality, but 
is found to prevail in all parts of the United States, in a greater 
or less degree, showing, most conclusively, that climate does 
not cause the disease. Hogs are subject to cholera in the cold 
climate of Minnesota the same as in the mild climate of Tex- 
as. That hogs are subject to, and do die in great numbers of 
cholera in all parts of the United States, is a fact that is beyond 
all controversy ; but, we find from the best statistics and re- 
ports, that the ravages of cholera are much greater in the great 
corn producing States, such as Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, 
Kansas, and all States where corn is the chief crop. In the 
next chapter, on the Causes of Cholera, I will give my theory 
in regard to hogs suffering worse in the great corn producing 
States than elsewhere. 

Cholera attacks hogs at all seasons of the year in summer 
and in winter, in the spring the same as the fall. We see from 
this that it is not the change of climate, or season, that causes 
the disease. Sometimes it will appear worse in winter and 
sometimes worse in summer; more hogs die in winter than in 
summer, the reason for which will be given in another chapter. 
Cholera attacks hogs at all ages, from the sucking pig to the 
full grown and fully developed hog ready for the market. — 
From one day up to the time they go into the pork barrel they 
are subject to this disease. Cholera is the name given to al- 
most all forms of disease to which the hog is subject, excepting 
thumps, kidney worm and blind staggers. 

IS CHOLERA A CONTAGIOUS DISEASE? 

There is a difference of opinion in regard to cholera being a 
contagious disease. Some say that it is, while others contend 
that it is not, but, I believe, the general opinion is that it is 
contagious. I believe it is contagious to a certain extent. 1 do 
not believe that there is any poison, or malaria, in the air or at- 
mosphere that causes the disease. I believe that hogs in actual 
contact with cholera hogs will receive the infection, if they are 
not kept perfectly healthy with the proper preventives ; but 
by using the proper means of its prevention, as recommended 
by this pamphlet, you can let your hogs run with cholera hogs, 
those affected with the disease, and have no fear of losing any. 
I have now about one hundred and fifty hogs, old and young, 
perfectly healthy, no coughing or wheezing, no signs of cholera 



8 HOG CHOLERA PREVENTIVE. 

/ 
in any particular. And, I can say, I would not experience any 
nervousness or fear to turn a lot ot hogs in ray pasture that 
were diseased in the worse form with cholera. I say this much 
to show the perfect confidence I have in the efficacy of my treat- 
ment tor its prevention ; but, without this treatment, I believe 
that the diseased lot would communicate the disease to the 
others by sleeping in the same beds &c. Use the preventative 
and have no fears, and best of all no cholera. 

Some think it is contagious from this fact : A has a lot of 
hogs; he thinks them perfectly healthy, no cholera among 
them. His neighbor, B, has the cholera among his hogs, and, 
in a short time, A finds his hogs dying with cholera. He says 
they caught the disease from B's hogs. This may be so, and it 
may not. In all probability, his hogs became diseased from the 
same cause that his neighbor's did, and that cause. Improper 
Treatment, which is the great cause of diseased hogs. 

One man may have cholera among his hogs and his nearest 
neighbor may not lose a hog, or have any diseased, simply be- 
cause he attends to his hogs better, or more as nature intended 
they should be treated. I believe it is contagious only when 
the hogs mingle together, come in contact with each other, 
sleep in the same bed, &c. 

I would say, in conclusion on this subject, that whether the 
disease is contagious or not, it is best to take all necessary pre 
caution against it in observing cleanliness, keeping the sick 
away from the well ones, and, especially, keeping them from 
bedding together ; use the preventive freely and have no fear 
of cholera getting among your hogs, although it may be all 
around you. In connection with this chapter we will speak of 
some of the * 

EFFECTS OF CHOLERA. 

There is nothing the farmer can turn his attention to of all 
the products of the farm, that will be more remunerative, or 
pay better, to the money invested, than that of hog raising, 
provided his hogs escape the terrible disease of cholera. There 
is money in raising every kind of stock — sheep, cattle, etc. — 
that is true; but is there, intelligent farmer and stock raiser, 
as much money in raising any other stock as that of hogs, when 
thev are not diseased ? I think your answer is, there is not. 
Every farmer and stock raiser knows that there is more money 
in hogs than any other stock, making reasonable allowances for 
loss by eholera. The vast numbers that are raised every year 
throughout the length and breadth of the land, is evidence 
enough to establish this fact. Now, why do farmers calculate 



HOG CHOLERA PREVEETIVE. 9 

for loss? When they buy cattle, sheep, or horses, they make 
no such enormous calculations for loss. The reason is this: the 
disease of cholera has become so prevalent in the Western 
States that hardly any farmer escapes losing some, and with 
many, their entire lot. There are men by thousands who will 
say, hog cholera ruined them financially, and thousands more 
will tell you they have been damaged by cholera, and but few 
men will say there is no risk to run in buying fifty or one hun- 
dred stock hogs. These facts have created a distrust in the 
minds of the people, so much so that they do not raise as many 
as they otherwise would, nor go into the business as extensive. 
Therefore, the people are greatly damaged by cholera (especially 
the Western people), much more than a great many think. 
Does the effects of cholera affect the prosperity of the West- 
ern people, and especially our own State of Illinois ? Read the 
statistics of Mr. Dodge, statistician of the department of agricul- 
ture before answering this question. He reports as the result 
of investigation of the losses from disease of swine, during the 
past twelve mouths, the destruction of four million animals of 
all ages, and a money loss of more than $20,000,000. One 
fifth of the reported loss occurs in Illinois. The next in prom- 
inence are Missouri, Iowa, and Indiana, which together lose 
$10,000,000. Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, 
have nearly as large a percentage in loss in numbers, aggregat- 
ing in value $1,500,000. The losses are very small in the 
country bordering on the gieat lakes and the Pacific coast. Of 
the remaining districts, W T est Virginia comes nearest exemp- 
tion, and Ohio and the Atlantic States stand better than the 
alluvial districts. The apparent loss is equivalent to a third 
of the sum exports of pork products of last year. This is 
enough to show the effects ot cholera. Is it not time people 
were seeing into this ? Is it not time people were adopting 
different modes ot treatment for swine? The legislatures of some 
States seeing and knowing the effects of cholera, have offered 
a reward (1 have been informed) for a cure, but their legistation 
in this direction will prove a failure. They should offer a re- 
ward for a preventive, if they really wish to benefit the people. 
Until people use proper means and treatment to prevent cholera, 
and remove its causes, it will rage in all its terrible forms ; for 
no medicine has ever yet been discovered that will cure every 
case of cholera, and never will be. How is the medicine to 
take effect on a hog that w r as well, to all appearances, in the 
morning, and dead before noon \ r l hey sometimes die in that 
length of time. There is no such thing as a practical cure for 
2 



10 HOG CHOLERA PREVENTIVE. 

hog cholera. The legislatures would do better to offer a reward 
for a practical mode of treatment for its prevention. 

That there is a cause for cholera and its terrible effects on 
swine, and the prosperity of the country, I presume no one dis- 
putes, for there is not an effect without a cause, according to 
the laws ot cause and effect. The causes of cholera are given 
in the next chapter. 



CHAPTEE II. 



CAUSES OF CHOLERA. 



When disease manifests itself in human beings, means are 
taken at once to find out the cause and remove it. All means 
possible are used to find out what natural laws ot health have 
been violated ; for nature has done all things well, and in her 
economy has established laws of health for man and animals ; 
and for them to be followed insures perfect health, while their 
violation incurs disease, and they have to suffer the penalty. 

Therefore, it behooves men to be careful how they violate 
these natural laws, and also to select out of nature's bountiful 
store-house, the kind of food best adapted to their wants for 
the promotion of health and the prevention of disease. And the 
nearer man complies with these laws and requirements of na- 
ture, in the selection of food nature intended for him, the more 
assurance he will have of health. The same is true in all ani- 
mals. The departure from nature's laws and requirements be- 
ing the direct cause of disease, we will see in what particular 
nature is violated in the general treatment of hogs, or tell what 
causes the disease of cholera. Two words ansvvers this all im- 
portant question of what causes cholera, viz: Improper Treat- 
ment. 

The hogis endowed by nature with a splendid physical con- 
stitution, rugged and hardy ; given strong and powerful lungs, 
and a powerful stomach and digestive organs, by which to con- 
vert his food into blood and fat. He has powerful jaws, well 



HOG CHOLERA PREVENTIVE. 11 

set with strong, sharp teeth, and bone and frame enough to 
carry a remarkable amount of fat. They are also provided by 
nature with a strong muscular nose or snout, to aid them in pro- 
curing food. There is nothing in their physical structure that 
appears weak or deficient. Now, why does disease attack 
them, and all other domestic animals comparatively escape ? 
The reason is this : Other animals are better cared for, better 
treated, and fed on the food that is adapted to them by nature. 
On the other hand, the hog is forced to eat almost one article 
of food. I refer to the feeding of corn The natural food of 
hogs is grass, roots, worms, vegetables, and small animals. 
Where they are allowed range enough, they keep perfectly 
healthy on grass, roots, worms, and so forth, such as they 
would find in the timber and on the prairie. With the aid of 
memory, look back to the first settling of this country ; hogs 
were generally healthy then ; no disease of any consequence ; 
occasionally one would have the thumps I never heard of 
cholera in hogs previous to 1850. Now, why were hogs healthy 
then and no cholera among them ? It is very plain to my 
mind. At that time they fed on their natural food, the country 
was new, not so thickly settled, and not so much corn raised. 
Men then were busy improving their farms, getting more land 
in cultivation from year to year, consequently their hogs had to 
run at large in the prairie or timber, and the hogs lived through 
the summer and fall on their natural food, and were of course 
healthy. As the country became older, there was no place for 
hogs to run at large ; they had to be confined in pens or lots, 
and then fed nothing but corn. Brother farmer, do not the 
majority of farmers feed corn, and nothing but corn, to their 
hogs, and that in its dry state out of the crib ? Now, if the peo- 
ple of Illinois, or any other State, will feed as little corn as pos- 
sible through the spring and summer months, they will cut 
their losses by cholera down fully one-half. Over-feeding of 
dry, heating corn during these months is the most prolific 
source of cholera. Corn is our chief crop in the West, and be- 
ing excellent for fattening hogs, the farmer feeds it and nothing 
else, so they become heated, their system clogged, and cholera 
is the result. 

I have been informed by reliable men that hogs fed on the 
refuse swill from still-houses generally suffer from cholera. 
This goes to prove that hogs do not require anything heating 
in their food, especially if it is their chief food, as corn is with a 
great many. 

Hog cholera is much worse in the great corn -producing 
States, as all statistics will show. In the States where but little 



12 HOG CHOLERA PREVENTIVE. 

corn is raised, cholera is scarcely heard of. I ask all observing 
stock raisers if this is not so. What more argument do we 
need to prove that corn is its main cause. As well produce 
argument to prove that the sun shines at noon-day — a known 
fact needs no proof. 

One may say, you discourage the feeding of corn, what will I 
feed, what substitute will I find? I do not discourage the feed- 
ing of corn ; it is its over-feeding in the spring and summer of 
dry corn that is objectionable. Many farmers are finding this 
to be the great cause of cholera, and are coooking their feed, and 
not feeding so much in its dry state, and before many years, 
cooked feed will be extensively used for fattening boos. 

I have given the main or chief cause of cholera. Of course 
there are minor causes to be considered, such as neglect, irreg 
ular feeding, bedding in old beds, laying around manure piles 
and straw stacks, running under barns and inhaling the poison- 
ous dust that has been accumulating for years, and being fed in 
the same place so much as to be compelled to inhale the dust 
that rises while they are eating. Then, in wet weather, some 
men never change their feeding place, but continue to feed in 
the mud, to the detriment of their own best interests. Any 
treatment, in violation of nature, has a tendency to create dis- 
ease. Such treatment as ringing their noses is in direct viola- 
tion of nature. If it was not the hogs 7 nature to root in the 
ground, he never would have been provided with such a for- 
midable tool as his nose is. Spaying sows is another violation 
ot nature, and therefore a cause of disease. In the treatment 
of hogs, there are some violations of nature that are unavoida- 
ble- — castrating, etc.; therefore we should be all the more par- 
ticular about avoiding those that are avoidable. 

When a man has a large lot of hogs, and the cholera sweep- 
ing them off by the dozen, then is when he wants something to 
cure them, and keep from losing them all. He cares very little 
about hearing a scientific lecture on the nature of the disease. 
He says it makes no difference to him what the disease is ; he 
cares nothing about your scientific ideas ; what he wants is 
something to cure his hogs, and prevent others from having it. 
Any man that can prevent cholera, and cure it in its first stages, 
does more than the wise philosopher who makes a scientific ex- 
planation of the nature of the disease. The idea is this, a man 
that can prevent disease, does more than the man that can cure 
it ; and the one that can cure it, does better than the man that 
can explain, but neither prevent nor cure it. 

What the farmer wants is less scientific foolishness, and more 
practical knowledge in the treatment of hogs. Not that I con- 



HOG CHOLERA PREVENTIVE. 13 

demn science at all, but I do condemn men that profess to cure 
every case of cholera, and have expensive receipts to sell, give 
a so called scientific diagnosis of the disease, when they know 
nothing at all about it; they probably know a' hog when they 
see it, and that is about the extent of their knowledge. I have 
1113 7 opinion of any man that claims to cure every case of 
cholera. Any man who claims it, makes confession to the hog- 
raiser of his limited experience with hogs. 

In giving the causes of cholera, it may be expected of me to 
give my views in regard to where cholera first makes its ap- 
pearance in a hog, or what part it attacks first. This is hard 
to do, as they are taken in so many different ways, as every 
farmer knows. In some cases they are taken with a cough 
first, others with diarrhea, others constipated, some discharge 
hard balls, and others worms. Some claim it to be a worm 
disease, others a lung disease, others a bowel disease, and still 
others a throat disease. The only reason that 1 can give for it 
attacking them in so many ways is this : possibly the disease 
originates in the blood, and the diseased blood, circulating 
through the entire body, diseases all parts. This blood is cir- 
culated by means of veins and arteries through every part ofthe 
hog, and if it is diseased or impure, it is possible for it to cause 
disease in any and all parts of the animal. Certain portions of 
the food is converted into blood. If this is not the right kind 
of food to furnish the necessary ingredients for the composition 
ofthe blood, it is not as it should be, and consequently impure, 
there is either the lack of something that should be there, or 
the presence of something that should not be there. Let science 
tell which and what it is. There are some arguments in favor 
of this theory. One is that the blood of different hogs slaugh- 
tered shows a marked#difference in its color — the blood of some 
is lighter than others. It is easy to tell the red color always 
seen in the blood of healthy animals. Now, who is the man 
that will say that blood always contains so much iron, so much 
salt, so much of this and so much of that component parts, un- 
der all circumstances and conditions. I am not prepared to say 
how much ofthe life-giving power is in the blood of one animal, 
and how much another one is suffering from poverty of the 
blood. But I can say that there is a difference in the appear- 
ance and color ofthe blood of hogs slaughtered, as any man 
can prove to his entire satisfaction, by comparing the blood of 
different animals killed at the same time. To all who cannot 
detect the difference when they butcher, and think that the 
blood of all hogs is the same color, I would say to all such, to 
compare the blood of a cholera hog with that of a healthy one, 



14 HOG CHOLERA PREVENTIVE. 

then the difference will at once be apparent. You can plainly 
see the lack of red blood in a cholera hog without having to 
kill him ; there is a purple or blueish discoloration under the 
throat, and along the belly, and behind and around the ears, 
that you have noticed perhaps just before a hog would die with 
cholera, and deepen into a darker blue after death. What 
causes that discoloration ? The want of good red blood in its 
veins. Whether the disease originates in the blood or not, 
there is one thing very evident, that when they have cholera 
bad, and are dying with it, they lack considerable of the red 
coloring matter in the blood. 

You may say that if the disease originates in the blood, why 
does it not manifest itself by cutaneous eruptions, or in other 
words, by eruptions of the skin, as all impurities of the blood 
do? I have but one known fact to answer this argument, in my 
experience, and that is this: About nine years ago I was losing 
hogs with cholera. One day when I was feeding, I noticed an- 
other one that would not eat ; I expected next morning to find 
him dead, but such was not the case ; he was alive, bur, no bet- 
ter, would not eat, and I considered him as good as dead. I 
could not understand for several days why he did not die. 
Others were dying that were not as sick, apparently, as he was. 
He was as sick a hog as I ever seen, for about a week ; then his 
skin began to crack open along his back, from the back of his 
neck to his tail, also on the shoulders ; the cracks looked bloody 
and raw, as though they had been cut with a knife ; he began 
to eat a little, but improved very slowly ; he eventually got 
well ; the eruptions healed up, leaving a terrible scar ; no hair 
ever grew on the places where the scars were, i had never 
seen or heard of cholera affecting hogs in this way before, but 
since then I have heard of others being affected in the same 
way. I mention this fact simply as an 'argument in favor of 
the theory of cholera originating in the blood. I consider it the 
most remarkable case of hog cholera that ever came under my 
personal observation. I can give no other reason or cause for 
the hog being affected as described, than that the disease ex- 
isted in its blood. In this case I will believe that it did, until 
informed to the contrary. Because all cholera hogs are not 
affected as this one was, does not prove that their blood is not 
affected or pure. I know of no other reason (as before men- 
tioned) for hogs being affected in so many ways with cholera. 
Who will be the man that will give another and better reason. 

Has this chapter given the causes of cholera ? Is improper 
treatment the great first cause ? In other words, is the violation 
of nature a cause of disease % Do the swine of the present day 



HOG CHOLERA PREVENTIVE. 15 

live on the food nature intended for them ? Is one article of 
food all that is necessary for the hog. Does lots and pens afford 
exercise enough for them ? Does the hog eat one-fourth as 
much of any other article of food as that of corn ? Does corn, 
by its injudicious use, as a feed for swine, cause cholera ? Is 
spaying sows and ringing hogs noses in accordance with nature? 
I submit these questions to the farmer and hog raiser; also 
the entire chapter to the practical hog raiser for their consid- 
eration. 



CHAPTER III. 



TREATMENT OF SWINE TO PREVENT CHOLERA. 



If the violation of nature's laws is the cause of disease or 
cholera in hogs, perfect conformity with these laws is its pre- 
ventive, or treating them as near as possible under the circum- 
stances as nature intended they should be. That a preventive 
is better than a cure, I presume no man disputes. 

When the Asiatic cholera, that scourge of the human race, 
makes its appearance, the people everywhere do all in their 
power to prevent it spreading. Want of cleanliness being its 
great cause, boards of health are appointed to remove all stag- 
nant pools, and all kinds of filth, and no food that would be 
likely to cause the disease is used. By all the various means 
used for its prevention, the disease is held in check, and its rav- 
ages comparatively small to what it would be if no such pre- 
cautions were taken. What would be tbe result if people wait- 
ed until the disease was amongst them, and then relied wholly 
upon some medicine to cure them ? For what purpose is the 
vaccine matter communicated to the human system, if not to 
prevent the terrible ravages of small pox? How many thou- 
bands of people owe their lives to this means of prevention ? 
Every one can see that the principle of a preventive is best. 



16 HOG CHOLERA PREVENTIVE. 

As the saying is, "a stitch in time saves nine" — "an ounce of 
preventive is worth a pound of cure," etc. 

I will now give a practical mode of treatment and doctoring 
for successfully treating cholera in hogs. A sure preventive, 
one that has not only proved itself satisfactory to me, but also 
to others. I will, in a subsequent chapter, speak of the cure 
of cholera in its first stages, which is the only way it can be 
cured. 

Never keep your hogs up in a dry lot at any season of the 
year, for it is not their nature to be confined, but have a good 
pasture for them to run in, with plenty of Iresh water; running 
water is best, for the reason that they have it constantly by 
them, which is not always when a man has it to pump. In win- 
ter, when the water is frozen up, see that your hogs get water 
twice a day. Creeks and streams of water are nature's water- 
troughs, and all animals (if not prevented) resort to them at 
will, to quench their thirst. In winter, when they are frozen 
almost solid in some places, in other places there are air holes, 
so there is no time but what animals in their natural stale can 
procure water. 

Any kind of pasture is good for them to run in where there 
is plenty of grass; a woods pasture is excellent — there they find 
grase, roots, and worms, and small animals, hickory nuts, hazel 
nuts, and berries of different kinds, and various kinds of food 
suited to their nature. The home of the hog is the brush and 
timber, and when he is kept away from the brush, out in the 
prairie, he should not be kept in a close bare lot, but in a good 
large pasture, and let him root all he pleases. Some men dis 
like very much to have their pastures rooted up by their hogs, 
so they put rings in their nose to prevent it. Never do it. Let 
them root ; they find roots and worms ; they do not root for 
devilment ; they are finding the very food nature intended for 
them. I have put rings in hogs noses to keep them from root- 
ing, but I have found it does not pay ; it pays me better to have 
my pasture rooted up than to ring their noses. In the spring, 
sow a patch of oats, and let it get a start before turning your 
hogs upon it ; they will thrive and do finely upon the oats and 
pasture. See that your hogs have a good shade to lay under; 
if there are no shade trees or thicket, have a well ventilated hog- 
house, with plank floor in it, for them to lay in. While the 
oats and grass is tender, they will not need a particle of corn, 
but as the summer advances the grass becomes tougher, and 
then it becomes necessary to feed a little corn ; one or two ears 
each, a day, to stock hogs is sufficient to keep them in good 



HOG CHOLERA. PREVENTIVE. 17 

condition, if they are kept healthy. I shall speak of fattening 
hogs in another chapter. 

Do not dose your hogs on the poisonous drugs that most of 
the live and ten dollar receipts contain ; for such poisons injure 
hogs, if they do not actually cause disease. The fact that all 
poisons do not kill hogs, does not prove that they are good for 
them. 

1 will now give my treatment and doctoring of well hogs for 

PREVENTING CHOLERA. 

1st. Give one-half pint of salt, dissolved in a pail full of wa- 
ter or slop, every other day ; give as many pails full as they will 
drink. Do not miss over two days at farthest in giving them 
all of the salt and water they can drink. It is the best medicine 
you can give ' your hogs for preventing cholera, if given as 
directed. 

2d. Give in slop, once every two weeks, one teaspoonful of 
pulverized tobacco to each hog ; tobacco in the hand commonly 
called long green is best , dry it, pulverize it, and give strictly 
according to directions. 

3d. Give ground copperas once a week, in slop; mix enough 
to color the slop a little. Give as much as they will take. 

4th. Feed on board floor, if possible, and keep considerable 
quantity of wood ashes on and around the feeding place. 

5th. Give soap suds once a week. 

6.th Feed not more than two ears of dry corn a day, at any 
time, unless you are fattening ; it is best not to feed any corn 
while the pasture is young and tender, to stock hogs. 

7th. Sprinkle unslacked lime over the floors of your hog- 
houses, to keep them pure ; clean out the houses as often as 
necessary. Have no bedding of any kind, only in winter. 

8th. Do not let your hogs run about the barn or manure pile, 
nor straw stacks. Have a good shade for them in summer. 

9th. In winter, have board houses for your hogs, well ven- 
tilated at the top ; use hay and corn stalks for bedding ; change 
as often as necessary; never let over twenty or twenty-five bed 
in one house together. 

10. If you have a horse, cow, or sheep to die, feed the carcass 
to your hogs, for their nature demands something of the kind, 
really more than they o^et. 
3 



18 HOG CHOLERA PREVENTIVE 

CHAPTER IV. 



HOW TO CURE CHOLERA. 



Can cholera be cured? is a question frequently asked. Some 
answer emphatically, it can ; while others go to the other ex- 
treme and say itcannot be prevented, and that hogs will die with 
cholera in spite of all man can do to prevent it. I have bought 
expensive receipts, and tried them faithfully, but none of them 
ever proved a sure cure. That some of them are good for hogs, 
I do not doubt, but any man that relies wholly upon any receipt 
or medicine for curing cholera, will find out in time that it is 
not the thing; that it is worthless, independent of other rules 
of treatment. I have paid out a considerable sum of money 
for medicine to cure hog cholera, but found none that proved to 
be a sure cure. Believing that there was no cure to be relied 
upon, first induced me to find, if possible, some means of pre- 
venting the disease. I used my own experience, and observed 
the different ways men treated hogs, and the success attending 
the different modes of treatment, and have succeeded in pre- 
venting cholera by right treatment, and simple but effectual 
remedies. 

I have made observations and experiments to satisfy me of 
its causes, and also that cholera cannot be cured if its causes are 
not removed. Now, if these causes are removed, and the right 
treatment commenced in time, I claim that it can be cured in 
its first stages. 

You may ask, what are its first stages ? I mean this : as soon 
as a man sees that his hogs are diseased, looking bad, tucked 
up in the flank, ears drooping, not doing well, and a general ap- 
pearance of disease among them, then is when he must be 
about it to save them, and not wait until they quit eating and 
begin to die before doing anything for them. 

If the rules and treatment laid down in the preceding 
chapter were strictly followed, there would be no necessity for 
this chapter or the cure being given. But for the benefit of 
those who may have cholera when they receive it, and all who 
neglect to use the necessary preventives at any time, and have 
cholera among their hogs, for all such this chapter is written. 

After thirty years experience raising hogs, and using differ- 
ent receipts and expensive medicines for curing cholera, I will 



HOG CHOLERA PREVENTIVE. 19 

now give you the best receipt for curing cholera that I know 
of, in fact the only practical means ot curing cholera. 

FOR CURING CHOLERA. 

1st. Remove all that show any symptoms of cholera to 
themselves. 

2d. Feed as little corn as possible to stock hogs ; if fattening 
hogs, reduce the feed of corn, or change the feed entirely ; if 
you feed much corn, cook it; burn all corn cobs and husks. 

3d. Have a good pasture for them to run in ; keep them 
away from the barn, straw stack and manure pile. 

4th. In summer, have a good shade for them ; in winter, 
have a comfortable hog-house, well ventilated ; let but fifteen 
bed together in one house. 

5th. Remove them from running water, or water of any kind, 
for the reason that if they get all the water they want, they 
will not drink enough of the salt and water. 

6th. Dissolve two-thirds of a pint of salt in a pail full of water 
or slop, and give as many pails full as they will drink, every 
other day. 

7th. Give in slop, once a week, one tablespoon ful of pulverized 
tobacco to each hog. 

8th. Give ground copperas once a week in slop ; mix enough 
to color the slop. 

9th. In about ten days, give them some soft soap, mixed with 
slop. 

10. As they gradually improve, and their appetites become 
stronger, fall back to the treatment of well hogs for preventing 
cholera ; give them all the slop you can ; buy bran and make 
slop ; the more grease in it the better ; get them started to 
thriving on slop, and other kinds of food, and then gradually 
add the corn to their feed. 

11th. After the foregoing rules have been thoroughly follow- 
ed, and some few of them seem not to be improving, or are 
growing worse, give the salt and water as before, and all cool- 
ing drinks, buttermilk, etc., and give twenty drops of perchloride 
of iron, twice a day, in a little milk or slop, to each hog. 

If you follow the above rules, rule eleven will be very seldom 
needed. When one refuses to eat, these rules do not claim to 
cure him. 



Treatment of Hogs 



PART II 



CHAPTER I. 



SWINE ORIGINAL. 



Professor Low's work on the domestic animals of the British 
Islands is so often referred to by .writers on swine, that I give 
a few extracts (all that I am able to procure) of his observation, 
on the description of stock : 

The hog family comprehends various species, and according to the viewy 
of modern zoologists, several genera. All the species are allied in the form, 
temperament and habits of the aniinals; the face is prolonged, truncated, 
and terminated by a movable cartilegeous disc; the skin is thick; the bodj- 
is covered more or less with bristles and hair; the neck is strong and muscu- 
lar; the limbs are stout and short. All the species feed on plants, but espe- 
cially on roots, which their strong and flexible trunk enables them to grub 
up from the earth. They devour animal substances, but they do not seek to 
capture other animals by pursuit. Like the thick-skinned rhinoceros, the 
hippopotamus, and the tapir, they delight in humid and shadowy places. 
They are voracious and bold in their defense, but have nothing of the thirst 
for blood which distinguishes the carniverous tribes. Their voice is a kind 
of groan or grunt, though when wounded they utter piercing cries. Their 
senses of smell and hearing are eminently acute. The species may be divided 
into two groups: 1st, those inhabiting the old continent; and 2d, those prop- 
er to the new, namely, (1) the wild hogs of Europe, Asia and Africa, the, 
Babiroussa of the Indian Islands, and wood swine and wart-bearing hogs of 
Africa; and (2) the pecarries of America. The wild hog or wild bear 



22 TREATMENT OF HOGS. 

susaper, is greatly the most diffused and important. He can be domesticated 
with the utmost facility 7 and in a single generation his descendants relinquish 
the habits proper to them in a state of nature. In the new world, the hog 
family likewise appears, but under a distinct form. These animals, termed 
pecarries, are smaller than the common swine of Europe, but resemble them 
in their general form. 



CHAPTER II. 



THE IMPROVEMENT IN SWINE AND HOW TO RETAIN IT. 



The improvement which has been effected in the character 
and quality of the swine family is indeed remarkable. The 
worse scrubs we have in this country is a wonderful improve- 
ment over the original. The improvement during the past few 
years is certainly a matter of sincere congratulation. No matter 
in what region one travels, even among people in all other re- 
spects far behind the times, the general excellence of the hogs, 
as compared with hogs of a few years ago, is so great as to at- 
tract the attention of all hog raisers. Everywhere the presence 
of good blood is observable, and it may be taken for granted 
that the Western farmer is substantially convinced that it will 
not pay him to raise scrub stock, and that the profits which he 
can secure through the feeding of hogs is in a very marked de- 
gree dependent upon the extent to which he introduced im- 
proved blood into his stock. 

Having attained this improvement in the stock, the breeder 
should see to it that this improvement is not lost. I know of 
cases here and there where farmers, seeking fresh blood for 
their stock, have exchanged boar pigs with their neighbors, in- 
stead of purchasing a boar of some one of the recognized breeds 
from an established breeder. I am certain that if this practice 
was to become general, the improvement to which I have re- 
ferred would be in danger of being to a considerable extent 
lost. The improvement which has taken place in hogs, as well 
as in other descriptions of stock, is the result of careful crossing 



TREATMENT OF HOGS. 23 

and selection, continued through many generations. So long 
as the same care and pains are taken, this improvement can be 
maintained, even if it is impossible to carry it further. But 
there are no breeds ot hogs, no matter to what extent they have 
been improved over the original types, or how long this im- 
provement has been maintained, that will remain at the present 
standard if the care of breeding fc withdrawn. There is a 
constant tendency to return to the scrno or original type. 

The general farmer of the community, who makes the pro- 
duction of pork one of the leading features of his business, can- 
not afford to give the mating of animals the care which the pro- 
fessional breeder bestows. Neither can he devote to a study 
of the effects ot uniting different strains of blood, the time 
and attention which characterize the investigations of the regu- 
lar breeder. The general farmer, even if possessed of all the 
mental qualifications, cannot afford to do this, because of the 
extent to which it will divert his time and attention from the 
regular and usual duties of the farm. He can better afford to 
let other men, who make this a specialty, undertake the work 
of producing animals squarely up to the standard of the im- 
provement which has been secured. The professional breeders 
producing animals of this character, the general farmer can bet- 
ter afford to purchase from them such animals as he needs to 
give the desired amount of fresh blood to his stock, than to un- 
dertake to prevent} within his own means, the degeneracy of 
his stock. 

By the introduction of frequent crosses, from first-class and 
carefully bred stock, the farmer can combat the tendency of his 
own stock to degenerate to the original type, and hold it as near 
the required standard of perfection as the practical, every-day 
purposes of the farm require. 



CHAPTER III. 



CROSSING OF SWINE. 



A very important question to the farmer, one who has the 



24 TREATMENT OF HOGS, 

common or scrub stock, is: which of the thoroughbred breeds 
are most desirable for the improvement of the common hog or 
mixed breeds of the country % If I may be allowed to answer 
that question, I will say that the Berkshire is most decidedly 
and emphatically the one for that purpose, and there are several 
very good reasons for this conclusion. 

They will improve the quality to a greater extent with the 
first crossing than any other kind ; they transmit an excess of 
their own nature to the progeny, and the qualities which they 
transmit are all desirable. 

By an infusion of the Berkshire blood, we reduce coarseness, 
create symmetry, improve the constitution, modify the disposi- 
tion, add to the fattening propensities, and develop early ma- 
turity in all the common and coarser kinds. 

The Essex and Suffolk are also good to cross with the com- 
mon stock, but not as good, for several reasons, as the Berk- 
shire. 

If these facts were generally known, and the knowledge ap- 
plied, it would prove of great advantage to the pork-producers 
of the country, and every farmer is more or less interested in 
that. As before intimated, the effect of one cross with the 
Berkshire is more decided and thorough than that of any other 
breed with which I am familiar, and will overcome the undesir- 
able features of the original, sooner than it can be accomplished 
by most any other breed. Many farmers, though possessing 
sufficient enterprise to procure a good breed, will soon let it run 
down for the want of necessary renewal, and other causes, such 
as neglect, carelessness, ignorance, etc.; and in such cases, a cross 
with another breed may be desirable, and will often produce re- 
sults that are almost surprising, that is, for feeding purposes, 
which, however, is the ultimatum of all the hog kind. 

There is no question but the proper crossing of thoroughbreds 
for a season will produce rapid and profitable pork-makers. But 
there seems to be some difference of opinion, and a great lack 
of information in general, among farmers and breeders, as to 
the crosses that produce the best results. I recommend using 
a thoroughbred Berkshire boar with our common stock for pro- 
ducing hogs for breeding purposes ; but as a principle I do not 
consider it advisable to cross the improved Berkshire with any 
other on their own account, but prefer rather to keep that breed 
distinct and up to the mark, by occasionally renewing with a 
foreign blood of its own kind. By foreign blood, I mean that 
of a distinct or unrelated family. They are a standard breed, 
very near perfection in themselves, possessing qualities that 
cannot be much improved upon without effecting the combina- 



TREATMENT OF HOGS. 25 

tion that constitutes the Berkshire, and stamps them with a 
character wholly their own, and which only requires to be kept 
up to the ideal of their style and perfection, to satisfy the re- 
quirements of almost every class, condition and locality. The 
true, well-bred Berkshire has the stamp of the thoroughbred, 
and great pains should be taken to perpetuate the purity of 
that blood. 

The thoroughbred Berkshire is the boar you want with your 
common or scrub stock, to make the greatest improvement. 

When it is desired to cross the Berkshire with some other 
thoroughbred stock for the purpose of getting longer bune, the 
Poland-China is the best. The result of a single cross will 
always give satisfaction, the produce being such as the general 
farmer of this country wants, and the hog that I believe pays 
the best. This cross continued upon itself will soon lose its 
identity with either breed, and eventually will result in a lot of 
mongrels. It will not do to select boars so bred for breeding 
purposes, but get boars from professional breeders, and in this 
way keep your stock up to the standard you wish. 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE BEST BREKDS TO RAISE. 



The merchant buys and handles goods that he can realize the 
most profit from. There are certain articles that sell more 
readily than others, there being more demand for them ; so 
the merchant is more particular about handling those articles 
that he can realize the most money from. And so it is with 
the farmer and stock raiser. They know that there is more 
money in raising certain kinds or breeds of st( ck than others. 
Of cattle, they know that the Short-Horn Durham is superior 
to the long-horned scrub. Also, that the Norman or Percheron 
4 



26 TREATMENT OF HOGS. 

horse is superior to the mustang or broncho, and will sell at any 
time (as all large horses will), therefore they raise them where- 
ever introduced, more than any other kind of horses. Farmers 
know, at least most of them do, that it pays better to raise good 
stock, stock that is easy kept and that will command the highest 
price in the market when sold. The farmer should be as par- 
ticular in keeping a good stock of hogs, as in keeping other 
blooded stock. • 

Some men say that fine-hogs are less liable to the disease of 
cholera than scrubs. Now, if this is true, we should, by all 
means, raise the best and finest stock possible, viz: use all 
means possible for preventing cholera. I recommend raising 
those t hat are most profitable to the farmer, and that un- 
doubtedly is good stock. Men differ in regard to which is the 
best breeds of hogs to raise. Some say a hog early matured is 
the best, such as the Berkshire ; others say the Poland-China is 
best, because they do not mature so early, are larger boned, 
and make heavier hogs. The Poland China is black, with 
white spots irregularly all over the body, of very large bone, 
the hams rounding and full, and very deep sides. It requires 
age to mature, and will weigh as high as seven hundred and 
fifty or eight hundred pounds when well fattened and full 
grown. They originated w T ith Mr. Magie, of Oxford, Ohio, and 
are usually called the Magie hog. They are a cross of the 
Poland, Big Spotted China, the Big Irish Grazier, and the 
Byfield., 

It is hardly necessary to speak of the Berkshire, to give a 
lengthy description of them, they are so common everywhere 
They are black, very light coat of hair, smaller boned than the 
Poland-China, small pointed ears, short nose, and nicely and 
compactly formed, and are gentle and easily handled, good 
feeders, and will fatten at any age. They are marked with an 
occasional white spot, especially in the face. Some have no 
white at all. I consider the Berkshire the most profitable of 
the thoroughbred breeds to raise. 

The cross between the Poland China and Berkshire is a very 
profitable hog to raise. They are longer, larger boned, and 
have a thicker coat of bair than the Berkshire. They mature 
earlier than the Poland-China can be fattened at any age. They 
can be made to weigh from five to seven hundred pounds. 
When kept healthy, thev take on fat very faat, are careful of 
their young, and excellent breeders. They are generally black, 
with occasionally a white spot. They are the medium hog, the 
one that stands between the two extremes — lar^e and small. 
Thev combine the excellencies of both stock. 



& 



TREATMENT OF HOGS. 27 

I have raised different breeds of hogs, and none of them were 
more profitable than the cross between the Poland China and 
Berkshire. They resemble each other very much, grow with 
the same treatment about the same size, and when fattened 
and sold bring the top of the market. 



CHAPTEE Y. 



BREEDIMG BEST TIME TO BRKED, ETC. 



The best time to breed is through the months of January and 
February, and for later pigs through the month of March, but 
no latter. The pigs will come in three months and twenty days. 
The weather will be warm and settled ; the pigs be more apt 
to live, and be less trouble. Young sows should not be bred 
earlier than the first of February (better a little later). In breed- 
ing them later, you are not so apt to lose them in pigging. 
Young sows especially should run on grass before pigging. Bv 
observing this you will very seldom lose any in this way. JNever 
have brood sows too fat, if you do your pigs will not be so good. 
Sows should not be bred until nine or ten months old. Separate 
the brood sows from the other hogs ; let them run in a grass 
field or pasture, well shaded. Give a little slop once a day : 
feed a little corn if necessary ; give them all the water they 
want; give the cholera preventive, as directed, with the ex- 
ception of copperas; feed sparingly; always guard against 
them becoming too fat. It is of great importance to the stock- 
raiser, that he take these necessary precautions at this time. A 
few minutes time spent in making a shed or cover over a sow. 
when a storm is coming up, will often save a valuable litter of 
pigs, which might o herwise be lost. I am satisfied that a very 
large proportion of valuable stock is lost annually through care- 
lessness and neglect at this time. After the pigs have come 
safely, the success of the farmer will depend in a great measure 
upon the after treatment of the sow. She should be carefully 



28 TREATMENT OF HOGS. 

fed and watched, until the young pigs are at least a week old. 
I do not recommend high feeding before pigging, neither the 
tirst week after*. But she should have a light diet for the first 
week or ten days, with plenty to drink, after which her food 
should be gradually increased in strength, until she becomes ac- 
customed to it, the great object being to prevent her her from 
becoming clogged. A sow thus carefully fed until she can 
safely eat allshe wants of a nntricious diet, will give a large 
quantity of nntricious milk. 



CHAPTERS I. 



CARE OF PIGS. 



If the sow has a large litter of pigs, they should be taught to 
eat as early as possible. They should have the very best of 
food. Corn, ground and cooked and mixed with skim milk, 
and the waste from the kitchen, makes the best of food for 
young pigs. If it is not convenient to have the corn ground, it 
can be shelled and boiled until it bursts open, in which shape 
it is almost as good as when ground. When the weather is 
warm, it will answer almost as well to soak the corn until soft. 
Young pigs should have all the food they can eat and digest, 
and should occasionally have salt mingled with their food. 
They should have charcoal, or the common coal to run to. They 
should run in a clover or rye field, or large orchard. I consider 
pasture better for hogs, either young or old. I would not 
recommend pigs coming earlier than the twentieth of April," as 
it is attended with too much risk from cold storms. lam satis- 
tied that pigs should be kept growing, never let them become 
stunted. All who adopt a liberal system of feeding with pigs 
will find it pays. I have been engaged in the rearing of hogs 
for a number of years, and my experience has taught me that a 
liberal treatment pays much better than neglect and skimp 
feed. 



TREATMENT OF HOGS. 29 

In my opinion one litter of pigs to the sow a year is enough. 
Some will differ with me on this point. I have found that rais- 
ing winter pigs is a poor speculation, for it should be under- 
stood that .young pigs are very susceptible of cold, and when ex- 
posed to it, though they may not die, their growth will be 
stunted, however fat they may become. Even the most com- 
fortable houses will not protect them from the influence of the 
external air. If it so happens that you have a litter of pigs 
come in winter, take the best care possible of them, for it pays 
better to raise them, even if they are stunted, than to let them 
die. But most men will find it will not pay as a rule to raise 
more than one litter a year to the sow. 



CHAPTER VII 



WEANING PIGS. 



It is not best to let the pigs run with the sow until they are 
half or two-thirds grown ; they keep the sow clown poor. Take 
them away from the sow as soon as old enougn ; let them run 
in a grass field ; do not feed much dry corn ; they will grow 
very fine on slop and grass, and be much healthier. After 
they are weaned, give them the cholera preventive, in smaller 
quantities, for a month or two, and then give it the same as 
you do to others. 



TREATMENT OF HOGS. 

CHAPTER VIII. 



DIARRHEA OR SCOURS IN PlftS. 



The symptoms are a sore, swollen nose, in some with swollen 
lips and under jaw, with loss of appetite. Some do not have 
these swellings. The passages are at first whitish, but later in 
the disease they assume a dark green color, and are very thin. 
The pigs appear stupid, laying around their beds. They also 
have considerable thirst, Some die in three or four days, others 
dwindle away in three or four weeks. 

It is better to prevent scours in pigs than to wait until they 
get them and then rely on a cure. I will, however, give a re- 
ceipt for scours, one that is recommended as being 'very good: 
Mix together one drachm of prepared chalk, and one grain of 
powdered opium, and one grain of calomel ; give this in a little 
thin gruel, to each pig, twice a day. 

CAUSE OF SCOURS. 

Diarrhea or scours in sucking pigs is caused by the condition 
of the sow. If a sow is pened up and allowed no exercise, the 
pigs are liable to scours The sow becomes constipated and 
feverish, and out of fix. and the pigs have the scours. Chang- 
ing their feed to quick causes scours. I have noticed that sows 
kept up in dry pens, their pigs are more apt to have scours than 
those that run in the pasture; and as long as the sows are kept 
healthy, there is no danger of the pigs having diarrhea. 

TO PREVENT SCOURS. 

Treat thfe sows before and after pigging as previously stated. 
Give the cholera preventive to the sows as directed, with the 
exception of copperas. Do not feed the sows much dry corn 
while suckling. Never keep them shut up in a pen or lot, but 
let them run in the pasture. 



TREATMENT OF HOGS. 31 

CHAPTER IX. 



FATTENING HOGS. 



This subject is of great interest to every farmer who raises 

hogs. Just how to fatten hogs so as to put on the most fat with 
less feed and in the shortest time is something that every farmer 
should know. But we find men of considerable experience in 
fattening hogs differing in their manner of fattening. Some 
men think it best to keep fattening-hogs up in a small lot or 
pen, and keep corn by them, and not give them all the water 
they will drink. The general mode throughout this country is 
to feed dry corn out of the crib. But in other parts' they grind, 
cook, and soak feed for fattening hogs, with a greater return, of 
pork to the teed consumed, in a much shorter time, than the 
common mode of fattening. 

I believe that a great many tanners, if they will take the 
trouble to look into the matter, will rind that thev are feeding; 
to much less advantage than those that give the subject more 
time and attention. How t much pork you cau put on a hog, or 
how T much pork costs per pound, of course depends in a great 
measure on the kind of hog and manner of feeding you adopt. 
I believe, after some experience, other things being equal, that 
a cross between a Berkshire sow and Poland-China boar will 
make more pork from the same amount of food than any other 
breed. They m iy not be as large at same age as the full 
Poland-China, but they will consume less food and keep in bet- 
ter condition. The general farmer* of this country, who fattens 
and sells hogs every year, are not prepared to grind or conk 
feed for their hogs. They have not got the time to devote to 
that particular branch of their business, as the man who makes 
it a study and a specialty to produce pork. They should, how- 
ever, devote enough time to select hogs that will fatten well, so 
they can get value received for their corn ; and study into the 
best modes of fattening to keep them healthy, for the loss of 
twenty live or fifty fat hogs by cholera goes into a man's pocket. 
The best mode of fattening now for the practical farmer is to 
fatten on a sure plan ; that is, never pen them up in a dry lot. 
Select such as you wish to fatten from the others about the 
middle of September or first of October (for it is not safe t 
commence while it is very hot). Commence feeding very 



32 TREATMENT OF HOGS. 

light. If you commence with green corn, you should be all the 
more particular, and not give them too much. Increase the 
feed gradually, until they are on full feed ; let them run in pas- 
ture all the time. Have a plank floor to feed on. If you feed 
on the ground, rake all husks and cobs up and burn them. 
Husked "corn is best for them ; it will not make their mouths or 
teeth sore, and they always do better and fatten faster on it. 
Have a good shallow trough in the lot you teed in ; give the 
cholera preventive as directed ; feed so they will take it up clean, 
or in other words, never keep a half wagon load on the ground 
for them to run over and waste, as some do. Give them all the 
slop you can, and if you are situated so as to feed cooked feed 
of any kind, it will pay to do it. Never neglect to give them 
plenty of slop. Never feed in the mud if it can possibly be 
avoided. 1 have seen feed lots that were not lit for hogs to stay 
in, almost a quagmire, and they would be fed in this mortar. 
Let a man pursue this way of feeding in the mud very long, 
and he will see that it does not pay. If the grass is poor, yon 
should be all the more particular about slopping ov feeding 
cooked feed, for dry corn' alone is too heating and will clog their 
system. There is much less danger of cholera when you let 
your fattening hogs run in the pasture; for the exercise and 
other food that they get counteracts to a considerable extent the 
bad eifects of corn." By letting them run out, and slopping 
often, also giving the preventive regular, there will be no danger 
in feeding corn. Salt, given as directed, aids digestion, and 
produces fat. 



CHAPTER N. 



FEEDING COOKED FEED. 



There has been a difference of opinion as to the economy of 
cooking feed for hogs. The best plan is to try it. A personal 
trial will be about the only thing that will settle the mat- 
ter to the satisfaction of every one, and any farmer can try it 



TREATMENT OF HOGS. 33 

with but little expense. I will not argue the economy of cook- 
ing food for hogs, but will give a description of a boiler that is 
so cheap that all can give cooking a trial, and test the matter to 
their own satisfaction : Make a box of hard wood, and of the 
desired capacity, ends and sides sloping. For the bottom, use 
a piece of sheet-iron, as wide as the outside of the box. Place 
the box upon brick work (a trench in the ground can be made 
to answer the purpose), within which the tire is placed. It should 
have a door, with a damper beneath, to admit the air, that the 
tire may be properly regulated ; the escape for smoke at the 
opposite end. In the end of the box should be a faucet or slide, 
through which the box can be emptied. The cover is movable, 
and should consist of plank cut on a level to correspond with 
the slope of the sides and ends of the box, and made to lit in- 
side, not on the top; place a few loose cleats or supports at 
intervals in the bottom of the box after it is placed in position 
over the iire-box or trench, and upon these supports place a 
false bottom. The false bottom should be perforated sufficient 
to allow water to pass down and up freely, but the perforation 
should be sufficiently small to prevent considerable quantities 
of the food from passing down. The false bottom should be 
taken out whenever the box is cleaned, in order to prevent an 
accumulation of material beneath it. The object is to prevent 
food from burning, which it would do if upon the bottom of the 
box proper. I have heard this box highly recommended, even 
by one of our leading papers. At any rate it is worthy a trial. 
It not only has the merit of economy in construction, but of 
being economical in operation. The box will hold all that will 
be required at one time. The fire-box or trench should be a 
little narrower than the bottom of the box, so that the fire will 
not act directly upon the bottom where it is nailed. Use white- 
lead in the cracks of the box Such an apparatus as here de- 
scribed will cook corn admirably, and would answer the pur- 
pose of all common farmers. Now, if corn unground is cooked 
long enough to become soft, it will probably be found to an- 
swer all the purposes of grinding. Such an apparatus can also 
be used for soaking corn, when not desired to cook it, and when 
hog killing time comes it will be found of great use as a scald- 
ing tub, keeping fire under it all the time, and reducing the 
heat of the water when necessary by adding cold water. With 
such an arrangement, you can always have slop for your hogs. 
When potatoes are plenty and cheap, like they were two years 
ago, it would be better to cook them for the hogs, than to let 
them rot, as a great many did. One advantage of feeding 



34 TKEATMEj?TT OF HOGS. 

cooked feed is this : it affords a change of feed for hogs ; it 
counteracts the effects of dry corn, and any food that is good for 
the hog he should have. At any rate it will pay to provide 
cooked feed for sows that are suckling, and the growing pigs. 
It will keep them growing, and you will have fewer runts. 



CHAPTER XL 



WINTERING HOGS. 



Great numbers of hogs die every winter from neglect, that 
is, not being wintered properly. The hog is an animal that is 
very susceptible to heat and cold ; therefore, the farmer should 
provide for his comfort, either in extreme hot or cold weather. 
It is humane, and also profitable, tor him to do so. In winter, 
the hog should be kept comfortable, but not too warm. How 
to do this involves differences of opinion. "Many men have 
many minds," therefore the many different ways men have of 
careing for hogs through the winter. Some let them run in 
the pasture or held, others keep them up. Some have houses 
for them, others do not, but let them pile up in fence corners or 
around the straw stack. Some have high, tight fences on the 
north and west for wind breakers, other low houses or sheds 
covered with straw. Some have board houses, roomy and 
well ventilated. Hogs that do not have any bedding in cold 
weather, pile up so much as to kill a great many. The farmer 
will go out in the morning, after a severe cold night, and hnd 
one, two, three, or maybe a dozen, mashed or smothered to 
death. Those not provided with bedding or houses, you hear 
squealing and making a noise all hours of the night. All that 
neglect their hogs, so are neglecting their own best interests. 
The low, straw sheds or houses that some use, are entirely too 
warm ; being covered with straw, the steam raising from the 
hogs, cannot escape readily, and it becomes too warm, the hogs 
get mangy, and coming out of such a warm place, the exposure 
to the cold air is bad for them ; it gives them cold, affects their 



TREATMENT OF HOGS. 35 

throat and lungs. You have heard hogs coming out of a hot 
house or beds, where they piled up, cough or wheeze. It would 
be better to have a good wind break and furnish the hogs with 
plenty of bedding than to have a hot, straw-covered house for 
them. It will pay any man, if he is feeding stock in winter, to 
have a high, tight fence or shed on the west and north of his 
feed lot, whether feeding cattle or hogs. Hogs cannot fatten 
in extreme cold weather as fast as they would if kept warm. I 
have lost hogs by pileing up, simply because I let too many of 
all ages run together and lay in the same beds. The best way 
is to have a hog-house, made out of lumber, with a floor in it ; 
they do not cost much, and a man with a large number of hogs 
can save enough probably in one winter to pay for them. Have 
them well ventilated, so the steam from the hogs can escape ; 
use hay or corn stalks for bedding. Separate the shoats from 
the large hogs, so they will not get mashed or crippled. Large, 
fattening hogs stand cold weather better than shoats, because 
they have more animal heat in them. ' It is not best to let more 
than twenty or twenty -live hogs stay in the same lot or house of 
extreme cold nights ; if heavy hogs, not so many. By dividing 
them out in this way, in cold weather, the farmer can save 
money that otherwise would be mashed to death. I said, in a 
preceding chapter that more hogs die in winter than any other 
season of the year; the reason is this: too many are allowed to 
run together, they pile up and smash some, smother some, and 
cripple others, and bruise themselves so much as to become 
easily diseased. More die in winter, not because cholera is 
more prevalent at this season of the year, but because not 
enough jattention is given to wintering them properly in our 
severe climate. 



36 TREATMENT OF HOGS. 



Miscellaneous Chapter. 



CHAPTER XIL 



LICE ON HOGS. 



Hogs sometimes have lice on them to such an extent as to 
reduce the hog's weight very fast, and if nothing is done to kill 
the lice, the hog will die, and be considered a victim of cholera. 
Lice on hogs is caused by them bedding in old beds that have 
been used for a considerable length of time, without change, 
or their laying in old straw-covered houses that have been used 
for several years. Some men say that lice kill a great number 
of hogs. Whether they do or not, hogs will not do well or be 
perfectly healthy with them. So it is best to kill them. If yon 
see that your hogs have lice, mix lard and sulphur and rub on 
their backs and sides, also behind and around the ears. If this 
does not kill them, stew up some tobacco and rub the juice on 
them ; this is the surest means of killing them. It is better 
than washing in soap suds. 

TO PREVENT SOWS FROM EATING THEIR YOUNG. 

The habit of some sows of destroying their young is certainly 
a very annoying one. Different theories have been advanced 
as to the cause, and different plans to prevent it have been 
proposed. The cause of sows eating their pigs is the want of 
salt and grease in their food, just before and immediately after 
pigging. At the time of pigging, they have a craving for meat, 
for flesh of any kind, and for salt. And, if some sows 
cannot get it, they eat their pigs. Some think sows eat their 
pigs because not fed enough, and that it is hunger that makes 
rhem doit. As I said before, it is craving for salt and flesh. 
Sows that are fed plenty of corn and slop sometimes eat their 
pigs. I had a sow that eat two litters of pigs soon after they 
would come. Just before nigging the next time, I thought I 



TREATMENT OF HOGS. 37 

would feed her some meat; so a few days before pigging, and 
for several days after, I fed her some pickled pork, and she 
never eat or injured a pig. I have tried it since, and found it 
to be effectual in preventing sows from, eating their pigs. Some 
men use coal oil. Wet a sponge and put a little on the pigs. 
But the other is the safest and best plan. 

FEED FOR SOWS. 

, Excellent feed for sows may be made into chops. Three 
bushels of corn, one of oats, one of rye, or mill stuff, makes ex- 
cellent slop, when steamed, for sows and pigs, by boiling a bar- 
rel of water and then stirring in one bushel of this chop and 
letting it boil. Or till a barrel with clean water and put in a 
bushel of this chop, and let it stand until it ferments a little, and 
it will answer a good purpose, and the sows and pigs will thrive 
finely. 

CASTRATING PIGS. 

It is best to cut pigs young; it hurts them less and does not 
stop their growth or stunt them in any way. There is then no 
danger of your stock breeding in and in, and the pigs are easier 
handled than when older. In cutting them young, there is not 
so much danger of loseing them. li any are ruptured, or as 
they are commonly called bussens, cut them and sew the cut up. 

HOW TO KEEP A BOAR. 

We read about care bestowed upon stallions, bulls, and other 
breeding animals, but rarely do we ever see a word on the care 
of boars. They are usually raised with breeding sows, and run 
and worry and become nothing but runts. They disappoint 
their owners, and everybody else. Now it is just as important 
to take care of a breeding hog as it is of a horse, and a good pen 
or yard should be used to enclose them. They can be well fed 
and made to grow, and if their services are needed, it is easy 
to have a door or gate to let breeding stock in. If this plan is 
followed, one will have a far better animal and far better stock. 
The slop of the kitchen, sour milk, vegetables, bran, and soaked 
corn can be fed to him. 

BEEF BRINE. 

Never give your hogs beef brine, for it will kill them. If 



38 TREATMENT OF HOGS. 

you do not believe it, try it, like a man I know of. He heard 
that beet' brine would kill bogs, and did not believe it; he had 
several nice hogs, he tried it, and since then he says beef brine 
will kill hogs. 

KITCHEN FATTENING. 

The question has been asked me, why do not hogs kept up 
in close pens and fattened on corn, dish water, and buttermilk, 
and slop of all kinds, die with cholera. I answer that they do, 
sometimes ; but as a general thing they are healthy. The rea- 
son is this : they are allowed a greater variety of food than the 
other hogs. The farmer will pen up two or three shoats in a 
close pen, and feed them as much slop as he does all his other 
hogs. They get all the dish water and buttermilk. The milk 
is coobng and good for them. They get grease in slop and in 
dish water, which is the very thing for them. Hogs generally 
do not get enough grease. There is also salt in the slop from 
the kitchen, and they get more or less of it every day. Their 
getting milk, and grease, and salt, and a greater variety of food, 
counteracts the bad effects of confinement, and not being almost 
entirely limited to corn as their food, cholera is prevented. 
Hogs that run out, slopped the same way, would never have 
cholera. 

COMMON SALT. 

Salt is composed of two elements that are entirely different from the com- 
pound which they form. One of them is a gas which is so suffocating that 
no one can breathe it clear and live. The other is a metal which has such 
an affinity for oxygen that if it were introduced into your mouth it would 
set the moisture there on fire in seizing its oxygen. And yet the compouud 
which these two elements make, is a very mild substance, which we take in- 
to our mouths eyery day in our food. It is most widely diffused in the ani- 
mal and vegetable, as well as the universal world. It all originally conies 
from the mineral world, and being absorbed from the soil by plants, through 
them it gets into the blood by their food. What its special uses are in ani- 
mals, beyond the fact that so iood can be digested without it, we know not; 
but that it is essential, its constant presence in the blood shows. — [From 
Hooker's Chemistry. 

I give this from Hooker's Chemistry to show the powerful 
elements that are united in the composition of common salt. 

SALT FOR ANIMALS. 

We use salt instinctively with our food ; with some articles, 
as potatoes, more than with others. As it is not as abundant 



TREATMENT OF HOGS. 39 

in plants as it is in animal food, considerable pains are taken to 
supply our domestic herhiverous animals with a sufficiency of 
this important article of diet. And to meet the instinctive de- 
sire of the wild animals for it, there are places where it exists in 
the soil to which they can resort for it. Such are the deer and 
buffalo licks of this country. Animals of any kind to do well 
must have salt often. Horses that are well salted have a slick 
coat of hair, and are much more lively than those that are not 
salted regular. Cattle feeders are very particular about salting 
their cattle regular. Salt keeps them healthy, gives them ap- 
petite, promotes digestion, and consequently produces fat. The 
farmer is particular about salting his horses and cattle, but not 
so much so in salting his hogs. Do farmers generally pay as 
much attention to salting their hogs as they do their other stock? 
I answer, they do not. Some scarcely ever salt hogs, and when 
they do they salt them on the ground, and the hogs running 
over it soon scatter it, and they do not get enough. We eat 
salt more or less every meal. The hog gets it once a week, 
or once a month, and sometimes not at all. It is just as neces- 
sary that the hog should have salt as any other animal, and if 
any difference, more. Hogs, to remain healthy, must have 
salt, and plenty of it. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



BKST MEDICINK FOR HOGS. 



Salt stands preeminent as a medicine for hogs. It is best, 
it stands above all known remedies and medicines for prevent- 
ing disease in hogs, given as directed in this pamphlet. It be- 
ing dissolved in- water, they can get more of it than by any 
other way. It will not hurt them ; you can give enough to 
vomit them without fear of injuring them in the least. It is 
cooling to their system, it assists digestion, and furnishes them 
with what their systems are calling for every clay. 



4<> TREATMENT OF HOGS 

TOBACCO. 

A teaspoonful of pulverized tobacco to the bog, once every 
two weeks, keeps them free from worms, and if given once a 
week, removes wormb, if they have them. Hogs do not crave 
tobacco as much as man, but it is a worm destroyer neverthe- 
less. Sulphate of iron, which is more commonly called green 
vitroil or copperas, is extensively used as a medicine for hogs. 
It has proved itself to be good medicine for cholera. Copperas 
is one of the ingredients of nearly all the receipts for cholera. 
I believe it acts as a blood purifier, and for such I use it. 



CONCLUSION. 



Farmer, hog raiser, I would say in conclusion, as in the 
introductory, that the object of this pamphlet bein^ written is 
to give to you the means of preventing cholera. To all who 
know how to prevent it, and those who never lose hogs with 
cholera, I will say this : Compare your treatment with the 
teachings and principles' here set forth, and see if they are not 
the same, or at least similar. I would also ask, does neg- 
lect keep them healthy ? To the man who loses hogs with 
cholera : Do you treat them as recommended in this book ? Do 
you believe what you have read in ibis book % If you do not, 
the best thing for your pocket's sake is to either quit raising 
hogs, or believe as quick as you can what you have read; and 
not only believe it, but practice it, for every sentence has been 
penned for your benefit. Let those who choose to ignore these 
means, go on unbenetited by them. But the wise man (wheth- 
er he believes the theories advanced or not) will make a prac- 
tical demonstration of them before condemning them, and if 
they find any merit in them, (which they undoubtedly will), 
they will give the author the benefit of it be recommending it 
to their neighbors. 

There are thousands of men who, if they think it is a good 
thing in the way of preventing cholera, will, out of goodness of 
heart toward their fellow man, sound its praise far and wide. 

As has already been said, it does not claim to be a treatise 
on the hog, and all that has been said that does not bear on 
the subject of hog cholera, is entirely gratuitous. 



42 CONCLUSION. 

This subject deserves, and will yet receive, a more elaborated 
authorship*; but in point of practical value, this, as yet acknowl- 
edges no superior. 

One great cause of cholera is the lack of the proper medi- 
cines to keep them healthy. This cause is removed by giving 
them what has already been recommended. 

Keader, you who have purchased this pamphlt, have you 
learned anythin g by the perusal of these pages ? Have you 
read anything that will be the means of your saving one hog? 
If so, you have value received for your money. If it enables 
you to prevent cholera, how much is it worth to you ? 

May this pamphlet be the means of preventing cholera 
wherever it goes, is the sincere wish of its author. 



—THE END. 



CO^^-Z^IO-XaZT SECURED. 

Entered According to Act of Congress, in the Copy right Office at Wash- 
ington, on the 5th day of November, A. D. 1S77, 

By W. T. BROOKING. 

NO. 12,701. 



ICfpTo all who purchase this Book will be allowed Fifty Cents premium 
■for everv one they sell — the premium to be deducted out of the Two Dollars 
when ordering the Books. 



HV1MHX 



PART FIRST. 

CHAPTER. PAGE. 

I. — Hog Cholera — Is it Contagious— Effects of Cholera 5 

II. — Causes of Cholera 10 

III. — Treatment of Swine to prevent Cholera 15 

IV. — How to cure Cholera in its First Stages 18 

PART SECOND. 

I. — Swine Originally 21 

II. — The Improvement of Swine and how to Retain it 22 

III. — Crossing of Swine , '..... 23 

IV. — Best Breeds to Raise — Breeding. . . . .« 25 

V. — Best time to Breed, &c. — Care of Brood Sows 27 

VI.— Care of Pigs 28 

VII. — Weaning Pigs 29 

VIII. — Diarrhea, or Scours, in Pigs — Causes of Diarrhea — How to 

Prevent Diarrhea 30 

IX.— Fattening Hogs 31 

X.— Feeding Cooked Food 32 

XI. — Wintering Hogs 34 

XII, — Miscellaneous Chapter 36 

XIII.— Best Medicine for Hogs 39 

Conclusion 41 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



002 843 005 P 




